Pictures of little Colton John Michael

I had fun taking Colton's pictures for his birth announcements. Since both Kindra and Loren play the guitar, I decided to use Kindra's guitar and Christopher's hat in some of the pictures. He is so cute.

Fun in the Snow

Aliyah couldn't wait to get out and play in the snow once we got to Grandmas'. She made alittle snow man and a snow angel with Grandma. Sandra got to go shooting with Christopher and Kindra in the freezing snow. It was a fun experience and good to spend time with her brother and future sister in law.

A trip to Washington for Sandra and Aliyah

Aliyah was excited to ride in the airplane to see Grandma. We had a 3 hour layover in the Denver Airport so I took the time teach Aliyah how to tie the shoes with laces she insisted on picking out. I wanted the velcro ones. After a half our of trying, Aliyah finally got the hang of it and was so proud of herself. Jerry and Sarah Ward, Loren's cousins moved to Spokane and came by to watch the first half of Super Bowl with us. They are a neat young couple. It was so neat to see and cuddle little Colton and get to know Kindra better this visit. Hopefully sometime soon Kindra will be my real sister, but for now I still feel like I have a new sister. I'm glad I have always had Nicole as a sister. Its neat to see her life unfold. I pray the best for her.

Mishonne's First Year of DHS Volleyball

Mishonne had a very good year playing volleyball for Dutchtown. She made the freshman team and after a few games moved up to the Junior Varsity team as a starter. She improved a lot and it was fun to see her do well. Her coach was Patrick Ricks. He is tough but seems to enjoy coaching the girls. I had a tough time cutting the apron strings as Mishonnes life long coach this year.

Aliyah looses her first tooth

After weeks of having a loose tooth, I told Aliyah I needed to wash her face. I took a wet washcloth and washed her face and I happened to grip her very loose tooth with the wash cloth and tug. She didn't even feel a thing and when I showed her the tooth she giggled and said, "It didnt even hurt Mommy."

New Year's Eve Celebration

For New Year's Eve, we got to hang out with the Bonhams, Mastens, Bensons, and Pollards. Everyone had fun doing the dance dance revolution game. We also had gumbo and fireworks. The funniest was watching Aliyah shake her little booty to the dance game.

Christmas Morning

We were excited to have Heidi and Joe come for Christmas this year. Its always neat to have family visit. They even got to see a few of Mishonne's basketball games. As is tradition, the kids got to open their new P.J.s on Christmas eve so they have them on during presents and the Christmas story. Aliyah with a mountain of presents Grandma Maryann played a trick on Mishonne and wrapped one of her "onsies" for Mishonne's gift. Logan was excited to get a pair of Nike Air running shoes while Aliyah was super stoked to get an American Girl doll from SAnta. Little does she know its a generic brand. The missionaries joined us for Christmas dinner. They even got to skype their families.

Firies on the Levy

We took the Benson family, who just moved her a month ago, to the firs on the Levy in Gramercy. Its pretty cool to look down the Levy and see all of the fires for miles. The kids had fun on the Big grassy hill. Here is Aliyah and Mason. Most of the fires are huge teepees of logs.

Christmas Sunday

The Sunday before Christmas we all dressed up in our Christmas Sunday best. Aliyah is the last of my girls to wear the daisy kingdom dresses Grandma Maryann made for Mishonne.

Our 2012 Christmas Card

I had fun designing our Christmas card this year featuring a photo taking on the Oregon Beach.